


The Grail's Desire

by Kaoupa



Series: Yaldabaoth!Morgana [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal, Persona Series
Genre: Akechi Goro Lives, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Persona 5 Royal - Freeform, Sumire joins the Thieves earlier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24292153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoupa/pseuds/Kaoupa
Summary: Just because two things are opposites doesn't mean they aren't related.A lot of the time, actually, it's the opposite.
Series: Yaldabaoth!Morgana [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817296
Comments: 13
Kudos: 63
Collections: Quality Persona Fics





	The Grail's Desire

**Author's Note:**

> Akechi is, and always has been here, a heroic member of the Phantom Thieves, and was never the Black Mask. Why will become clear as you read.
> 
> I don't own Persona 5.

He had initially thought that his year on probation would be boring.

He couldn’t have been more wrong. 

Because this situation? Going into the depths of humanity’s own screwed-upedness? To save both their own butts, and people in general from their own distortions?

“Everyone ready?” Ren asked.

“Always, man.” Ryuji nodded.

“We’ve got this!” Ann grinned.

“Ready and waiting, Joker.” Yusuke nodded.

Makoto simply gave a determined nod, backed up by her steadfast expression.

“We can do this!” Futaba grinned.

“I am ready!” Haru beamed.

“It will be interesting to see what happens soon. I am prepared.” Goro Akechi nodded.

“I wish I had started helping sooner so that I could have done this more… But I’m ready!” Sumire nodded.

Ren nodded, before realizing that one of the Thieves hadn’t said anything.

“Mona?”

The Phantom Thieves, as one, looked to their shortest member.

“Right, sorry. I was just… thinking.” Morgana replied. “And… I’m ready when you are. Just give us the word.”

As he looked down into the room below, Ren Amamiya couldn’t help but think one thing.

That he wouldn’t change a damn thing if he was given the option.

_RANK UP! Fool Confidant has reached Level 9._

  
  


As he looked at the massive black chalice sticking out of the floor, Morgana couldn’t help but feel that something was _wrong._

Something was out of place. Something… off.

Well, maybe it was because of all the wires sticking into the base.

And the numerous human guards in heavy military gear at the base, and the computers set up around it. 

“SCATTER!” He yelled, as the assault rifles came up.

As the Phantom Thieves summoned their Personas, and as Joker moved a Girihemekala in front of himself, Morgana couldn’t help but keep one eye on the Grail, radiating power in the background as the Conspiracy’s agents hastily typed in commands into their computers.

As a massive blast of air exploding outwards smashed the guards in front of them and sent them flying, the other Thieves were already launching their own attacks - Dormina from Ann and numerous confusion spells were being thrown around by Ren himself, plus a mass brainwashing spell thrown out by Loki.

Normally, they probably wouldn’t do this to other humans, but agents of the Conspiracy got a rank higher than usual in amorality. And as such, they were more acceptable as targets.

  
  


The first thing Morgana really, _really,_ remembered about his life was that he had awakened inside a prison.

Prisons featured rather heavily in his life. Kamoshida’s castle, Mementos…

And now, this place. This… “Velvet Room” place, that he had heard about but never seen in person, that had been inside the Quarantine Cell. It was a rather… odd place. The old man and the girl inside were rather kind, though.

But… why did they seem so… 

Familiar?

  
  


_“Mementos.” Morgana said, yesterday in LeBlanc and half a lifetime ago. “We can stop Shido’s conspiracy from affecting the minds of the public any further if we use Mementos.”_

_His words left the rest of the Thieves silent - and thinking._

_“Well… I guess that makes sense? It is everyone’s Palace, after all.” Ann eventually said. “It makes sense that if we stole-”_

_“As much as I agree with you Ann, I do not think that is what Morgana was talking about.” Goro Akechi replied, frowning from next to her, his hand on his chin in thought._

_“Whatcha mean, dude?” Ryuji asked, looking puzzled._

_“I admit I should have brought this up earlier… but as we all know, the Conspiracy is able to infiltrate Mementos and other Palaces, to cause the mental shutdowns.” Akechi frowned. “However, the means of their current actions - seemingly distorting the mind of the public itself…”_

_“You think they’ve figured out how to manipulate Mementos and to use that effect so that they can affect the mindset of the public.” Makoto stated, nodding. “I had considered that myself. The tunnels are easy to get lost in down there, and change too… so we could easily have missed anything or anyone they moved around or installed in there.”_

_“But… how did they get down there in the first place?” Sumire murmured from the side. “Who could have given them whatever they use instead of the Nav?”_

_That question was one that only had everyone looking at each other helplessly. Even Morgana, Akechi, Makoto, Ren, and Futaba could only shrug._

_There was an option, with what they knew._

_But none of them really wanted to ponder the idea that they had been playing a game rigged against them by Igor from the very start._

_“We can do a run tomorrow.” Ren decided. “Go down as far as we can - and interrogate any members of the conspiracy that we find.”_

_“I think we can do better than that.”_

_Morgana’s words - out of nowhere, even for him - had everyone else turning to him curiously._

_“Mementos is a Palace like everything else we’ve dealt with. And if we’re dealing with a Palace…”_

_“There must be a Treasure!” Futaba finished._

_“So… all we gotta do is steal that, then?” Ryuji asked._

_“That’s the idea.” Morgana nodded._

_“Curious… I wonder what form the desires of the masses will take.” Yusuke pondered._

_“Well, we will find out soon.” Haru stated firmly._

  
  


The Grail was enormous. And it was also covered with numerous sensors, wires, and electrodes, and seemed to have had multiple chunks of itself carved off. Considering how much he loved Treasures, Morgana felt rather offended by that.

“Gah… I hate it when they won’t just stay unconscious!” Ryuji yelled, directing Seiten Taisei to unleash a deliberately weakened Mazio onto a few of the advancing Conspiracy thugs who had started getting back up.

Normally, against the Shadows that were around in the Depths, this wouldn’t even have scratched them.

Against a bunch of Persona-less humans, who had apparently made it down this far by using some sort of machinery to keep the Shadows from noticing or attacking them, and who were only armed with typical military equipment? It was more than enough, and their hair standing on end and them freezing in place, then toppling to the ground, was proof of that.

“Anyone else?” Ann asked carefully, scanning the room - and the many unconscious soldiers. There were no Shadows in here… at least, there weren’t any hostile Shadows. There were plenty of Shadows in the cells that made up the walls, though.

“I don’t see anyone else.” Ren said, casting several sleeping spells in rapid succession over the grid area containing everyone that had attacked them (the researchers had been dragged elsewhere in the massive chamber, and were also sleeping peacefully, with Haru watching them).

“I’m not sensing any more humans in here… besides us, I mean. Conscious humans, I mean!” Futaba yelped. “What do you think, Morgana?” When he failed to reply for several seconds, she looked around in confusion. “Morgana?”

  
  


_“Morgana, may I speak to you?” Came a young-sounding voice from the girl who had been standing next to Igor - Lavenza, he remembered her being called._

_“What is it, miss Lavenza?” He asked curiously, turning around. Previously Lavenza and Igor had been focused on either the Phantom Thieves as a whole, or just Akechi and Ren. He had wanted to speak up, but Igor had been focused mostly on giving them advice (and praising them a little, which had stroked his ego enough he forgot to ask)._

_“As you doubtless know, the darkest and lowest part of Mementos will be coming up shortly. The prison of man itself… the roots of which are starting here in Tokyo. And… you have already started recovering your memories, correct?” As Morgana nodded, she slowly bowed her head. “As such, I… have no doubt that, when you go to the bottom of Mementos, everything will be clear. And when you arrive… I can only offer you this advice.” She gave him a look. “There is more than one reason that we residents of the Velvet Room are assigned to aid the Wild Cards, when they are found.”_

_“What do you mean?” Morgana asked, curiously._

_“We are there not just to watch and help them develop - in my case, my assignment to help our guests was also to help_ me _grow.” Lavenza nodded. “It is through that bond - watching others grow, in part with my help - that I was able to learn more about humanity, to some degree.” She smiled, and to his surprise, knelt to rub his head. “I only hope that you will understand this soon.”_

  
  


As Morgana gazed up at the chalice, something washed through him.

He wasn’t sure what it was.

It felt familiar.

  
  


_“What is this thing you’re planning to use anyways?” The head doctor of (formerly) Shido’s conspiracy frowned, looking puzzled._

_The head of Shido’s bodyguards shrugged. “After Shido became the frontrunner for Prime Minister, the depths of that subway Palace for everyone opened up. We… went in. After a while, we got to the bottom of the place.”_

  
  


It felt… powerful. He knew that already.

And it was Treasure.

And just like himself, he couldn’t keep himself from touching it.

  
  


_“...was the Treasure of the public. We could certainly use that. And with so many of the population’s Shadows contained in the Depths...” The cognitive psience researcher mused. “Manipulating the entirety of a Palace that size would be impossible with our current understanding of cognitive psience. But… manipulating the most important part of it, to make people more suggestible to our propaganda… that should work.”_

_“What do you mean, it “could” work? Shouldn’t it?” the head doctor asked, curious._

_“Cognitive psience… remains a poorly understood field. We have never worked on a Treasure before as large and influential as this one. We have altered Treasures and Shadows in the past, such as with Kobayakawa, Okumura, and his predecessor-” he stopped for a second, to nod towards the current head of the SIU “-so that we could deal with them at our leisure if necessary, and to strengthen their Shadow’s influence. But those adjustments were solely directed towards one person so that they can be influenced, altering the Treasure of the public to such an extent would likely be almost impossible.”_

_“Good.” The head doctor replied. “When you start altering it, leave out that… self-destruct mechanism. Even if we are caught… I don’t want to know what destroying it like that might do, and I don’t plan to find out.”_

_“Feeling sympathetic?” The television executive of them replied._

_The doctor glared. “I still follow the Hippocratic Oath. And murdering all of Japan potentially because we lost is not something I will have on my conscience for many reasons. My family being one of those reasons.”_

_Nobody really protested this._

_“All right then. We can start working on the Treasure of Mementos as soon as tomorrow. We just need to get all of the equipment in place. By the time that the election results come in, we should have built up a considerable amount of influence on the general public.” The cognitive researcher nodded._

_The head bodyguard nodded. “Good. I’m just glad that thing wasn’t doing anything when we found it.”_

  
  


Everything was… different. Everything _looked_ different. _Felt_ different. _Was_ different.

And the first thing he felt was pain.

And he screamed, screamed in pain at the chunks that had been carved from him by the humans who had invaded this place for their own selfish reasons.

But really, that described all humans, didn’t it? Selfish, unfeeling, unreasonable…

 _No._ He reflected.

Even as he felt himself adjust, as so much of him changed on his inside and outside, he realized that swiftly. Especially as he looked out at the nine people who had helped bring him here, to help save those humans.

_Humans aren’t always like that._

_No._ People _aren’t always like that._

  
  


_“You think yourself so clever, don’t you.”_

_Philemon, in a rather good mood, turned around to see their archenemy. “Whatever do you mean?”_

_“Informing your servants of the rise of the God of Control. Them stopping him before he could go after them directly.” Nyarlathotep hissed, their countless mouths surfacing and submerging across their body._

_“Perhaps so. I have not interfered myself - and a single warning is hardly of consequence by itself. You have few servants who you can warn to do something of consequence as an equivalent stroke.” Philemon replied mildly._

_Nyarlathotep hissed. On their back, however, one of the countless mouths smiled._

  
  


“MONA! MONA, WHERE ARE YOU!?!” Ryuji Sakamoto screamed, drawing out his staff as he scanned the room furiously for the small feline that he had developed a mild love-hate relationship with. “GET OUT HERE AND PROVE TO ME YOU’RE STILL ALIVE, YOU STUPID CAT!”

“Mor-Mona?” Ann Takamaki, wide-eyed, stammered out loud, as her eyes failed to see her friend and teammate anywhere. And in a chamber like this, unless he was hiding in one of the two piles of people that the Thieves were watching or behind the goblet or the hands, that shouldn’t have been possible.

“MONA-CHAN!” Haru Okumura screamed. She had seen everything - Mona going up to the Treasure, touching it - 

And then vanishing without a trace.

  
  


“Wakaba Isshiki holds the key. The key to your cognitive research, to becoming Prime Minister…”

_Masayoshi Shido smiled, as he heard the voice of God. At least, the voice as he envisioned it - the voice telling him to ascend, to rule Japan._

_He couldn’t have been much more wrong._

  
  


“GREETINGS, HUMAN THIEVES. I WELCOME YOU TO THE DEPTHS.”

“The hell?” Ryuji said, staring for several seconds at the blackened cup that had… moved. And… appeared to be speaking, in a tone that was deep, and though it did not seem loud somehow reverberated throughout the room. “Aren’t you supposed to be a Treasure?”

A deep chuckle reverberated through the room. “I’M A TREASURE INDEED. BUT THERE IS FAR MORE TO ME THAN THAT.”

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Makoto demanded, scowling.

“THE PRISON OF REGRESSION… WHY DO YOU THINK IT WAS FORMED? WHY DO YOU IMAGINE THAT HUMANITY WOULD FORM A PRISON AS THE ONLY REPRESENTATIVE OF SOCIETY?”

“Is this somehow related to what we’re supposed to do? Let’s destroy this thing and save everyone from themselves!” Ann shouted, her fear at Morgana’s disappearance rapidly turning into rage at the thing that had apparently made him vanish.

The next chuckle was… different. Higher-pitched. And familiar.

“LADY ANN, I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU LET ME FINISH EXPLAINING FIRST.”

  
  


_“SO… IT SEEMS YOU WERE STRONGER THAN I INITIALLY THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE.”_

_“Indeed… I always find that hiding your true strength till it is needed was always a clever ploy.” Igor agreed, standing over the devastated halo of the god of control._

_“He was hardly alone, in this.” Margaret noted, standing to the side of the Velvet Room’s master._

_“Give the rest of us some credit too!” Theodore yelled from next to her, arm clasped protectively over the shoulder of his younger sister (who in another world would have been his younger sisters part-time)._

_“Now then… shall we finish this, master?” Elizabeth asked. Behind her, the form of Messiah hung in the air._

_Igor paused for a second. Then, he cast his own spell - one that was done with no Persona to guide it, and still somehow was stronger than any of his assistant’s had been throughout the entire fight._

_But instead of delivering the killing blow to Yaldabaoth, it came in a different form._

_For a single second, the false god spasmed._

_Then, he fell backwards, his mind slumbering as though he was comatose._

_“No.” Igor smiled to his surprised-looking attendants. “I think… it would be a waste of this being’s potential, if he only knew of humanity’s sins and tried to judge them on those alone.”_

  
  


“Mona-chan?!” Haru looked as though she had just seen her father’s death all over again. “YOU’RE the Treasure?!”

“I… must say, I did not expect this particular twist.” Goro admitted, his eyes wide in shock. 

Futaba said nothing, looking as though she had just been punched in the gut and had been caught mid-yell.

“Mona? Are… you okay?” Ren asked carefully, bracing himself.

“Oh, the emotions… the scenery… it is a true pity I don’t have my brush and paints…”

Everyone turned around to look at Yusuke in shock, as he held up his fingers in a rectangle, to better capture Morgana’s new form. “Fox-senpai…” Sumire sighed, her eyes closed and her fingers massaging the ends.

“What? It is not as though we are under any threat now. I imagine that if Mona wished to hurt us, he would have done so already, since our guards are down now.” Yusuke mildly replied, walking towards the right. “Excuse me. I wish to see if I can capture him again from another angle.”

A cheerful chuckle came from behind them. As one, the Phantom Thieves who still had human bodies turned around to look at the Grail that had “eaten” Morgana. “OH FOX, YOU’RE STILL THE SAME AS EVER. AND DON’T WORRY, GUYS. SO AM I.”

  
  


_A small form slept peacefully in the Velvet Room’s blank form, on a bed formed from the impressions of humanity._

_It was a very comfy bed, as a result of this. And as a result, Morgana was snoring peacefully, perhaps for the first time in his life._

_“I… am curious, Master. What gave you this idea?” Lavenza questioned, tilting her head as she looked at the sleeping catlike creature, that was so much more._

_Far below their feet, the Holy Grail lay dormant at the bottom of Mementos, the influence it held over the inmates gone, its mind separated from the massive “godlike” construct made from the distorted desires of humanity._

_“Indeed. Altering… well, not quite. I… fusing? I’m not sure how to describe this.” Theodore shrugged._

_“It is quite contradictory, master. The hope to be free and the wish to submit part of one’s own freedom to somebody else… is a rather inappropriate combination.” Margaret concurred. “Where did this idea come from?”_

_“It came from one Ryoji Mochizuki. And to a degree…. Our old friend Marie.” Igor admitted. “The avatar of death, wishing for life, even though he had no real choice in the matter… the imprisoner of the fog, thinking she had to die to save the people she’d grown to love... it always struck me as unfair.”_

_Elizabeth frowned behind him, but said nothing._

_“I know not what happened to Ryoji, but I have hope that he is at peace now, wherever he is.” Igor stated calmly. “And… that always fascinated me. It is indeed contradictory, to have both of those desires within oneself.” And here, his grin somehow grew._

_“But to be contradictory, the ability to choose between one’s strengths and one’s flaws… it is wonderfully human, don’t you think so?”_

  
  


In the Velvet Room, high above the bottommost part of Mementos, Igor and Lavenza waited. They did not watch, nor did they listen to what was happening below. They respected the Thieves too much to do that.

They didn’t respect the agents of the Conspiracy - the unknowing tools of Nyarlathotep - that much, but they wouldn’t disrespect the Thieves while they were down there.

And as they waited, for the results of whatever came next, something changed.

Within one of the cells - specifically, the cell that had once held Ren Amamiya - the blanket rose from the bed.

And it ripped itself into pieces - pieces that rose up, to become words and symbols. The intonation and style of speech was clearly “fancy”, and the lettering itself was like the lettering on a book for a monarch in the Middle Ages of Europe. They were well-printed, “fancy”, and if possible, colorful. These were the words of someone who thought highly of themselves, or somebody who wanted to impress other people.

But either way, the words formed a rather simple message.

WHATEVER HAPPENS NEXT, THANK YOU. FOR OPENING MY EYES.

As he looked at them, once again, Igor’s smile somehow got even bigger.

  
  


“How… did this happen?” The Phantom Thieves had been expecting a lot of things in the depths of Mementos. But to discover that one of them was apparently the very Treasure they had come there to deal with was not one of them.

“IT IS A COMPLEX STORY… HANG ON A SECOND.”

The various agents of the Conspiracy stationed in the heaps around the room, at the same time, started flying upwards, towards the upper areas of the massive temple. Even from afar, the Thieves could all feel the winds buffeting them skywards.

“What are you doing, Mona?” Futaba asked, staring up after them. 

“I AM SENDING THEM BACK TO THE ENTRANCE OF MEMENTOS… WHEN THINGS END, THEY’LL BE DEPOSITED BACK IN THE NORMAL WORLD.” Came the reply. “WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THAT, I WILL PROBABLY NOT KNOW.”

“What do you mean? And again… how exactly did this happen?” Ann asked, still confused a little.

“HUMANITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN IMPERFECT. WILLING TO ACCEPT THE LEADERSHIP OF PEOPLE THEY KNOW ARE IMPERFECT OR CORRUPT, BECAUSE THEY THEMSELVES DO NOT HAVE THE POWER TO REMOVE THEM OR CHANGE THEIR MINDS. AND THIS EXPECTATION, IN ITSELF, HELPED LEAD TO MY ORIGINAL CREATION.”

“Your… original creation?” Ren frowned at the choice of words.

“You’re kinda repeating yourself, Mona.” Ryuji stated.

“I DIDN’T MISSPEAK, BUT I CAN SEE WHY YOU’D THINK THAT. BUT THAT’S LATER ON… AND THIS WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING. HUMANITY WISHED FOR THERE TO BE SOMEONE TO TAKE ON THEIR BURDENS… SOMEONE TO LIFT THE PAINS FROM THEM THAT THEY THOUGHT THEY COULD DO NOTHING TO FIX BY THEMSELVES.”

“That… it sort of sounds like why we were so popular.” Makoto mused aloud.

Morgana actually paused after hearing that. “IN A WAY, IT IS. BUT IN TIME, HUMANITY’S DESIRES STARTED TO BECOME DISTORTED… HERE IN JAPAN IN PARTICULAR. IN TOKYO MORE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE... THE WISH FOR SOMEBODY TO TAKE AWAY THEIR PROBLEMS BECAME THE WISH FOR SOMEBODY TO PREVENT THOSE PROBLEMS FROM EVER HAPPENING. THE WISH FOR SOMEBODY TO CONTROL THEM… TO PERFECTLY CONTROL AND PREVENT THE PROBLEMS THAT LED TO THEM BEING HURT AT ALL. AND THAT WAS HOW MY FIRST SELF WAS CREATED. YALDABAOTH… THAT WAS MY NAME.”

  
  


Igor continued to smile lightly as the words formed fell to the ground, in a tatter of ruined sheets. “Master, if I remember correctly… that was Morgana’s magic.” Lavenza spoke slowly, smiling herself. “I could sense Mementos transmitting his will…”

“Indeed it was, my dear. It seems that… he has made at least one choice that I hoped he would.” The master of the Velvet Room beamed as he spoke. Like he always did.

“At least one? Has he not already decided to aid humanity?” Lavenza asked, curiously.

“Not yet. That decision… is separate from his gratitude to us, I would assume.” Igor replied, calmly. “We shall see soon.”

  
  


“So… how did your name become... Mona, then?” Yusuke asked, speaking carefully.

“I WAS INITIALLY… I HELD LITTLE FAITH IN HUMANITY. THE DISTORTIONS THAT CREATED MY MIND WERE BORN FROM THEIR SINS AND THEIR SLOTH, OR THEIR LAMENTATIONS OVER HOW THEY COULD DO NOTHING TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF SOCIETY ALONE. HOW THEY COULD NOT CHANGE THE MINDS OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO WERE HURTING THEM, AND COULD NOT CHALLENGE THEM. AND… AS TIME WENT ON, AND THESE DISTORTIONS DIRECTED AT ME GREW STRONGER, THEY BEGAN TO OVERPOWER MY OLD SELF. I… GREW DISTORTED. DISTORTED BY HUMANITY’S DESIRE FOR A STRONG LEADER, FOR A MESSIAH TO LIFT THEIR BURDENS OFF THEIR BACKS. I BEGAN TO PLAN MY ASCENSION TO POWER… TO OVERTAKE THE HUMAN WORLD WITH MEMENTOS, TO ENSURE MY RULE. BUT… I WAS STOPPED, BEFORE IT CAME TO PASS.”

“Someone… stopped you? Who?” Haru had, as Morgana seemingly grew more comfortable in telling his story, been feeling the area around them for Morgana’s power - and frankly, she would have been terrified of what she was feeling if her low-level telepathy hadn’t confirmed to her that it was indeed _Morgana,_ her sensei, who was in control of it.

“IGOR AND LAVENZA… THEY ARE NOT THE ONLY RESIDENTS OF THE VELVET ROOM. THEY CALLED UPON THE OTHER RESIDENTS… AND AS ONE, THEY TOOK THE FIGHT TO ME. I LOST… BUT INSTEAD OF KILLING ME, IGOR SAW ANOTHER REASON FOR ME TO LIVE. AND IN THE END… IF HE WAS HERE NOW, I’D THANK HIM.”

“So… what did he do?” Ryuji deadpanned.

“HE MADE ME… MORE HUMAN. HE TOOK THE ORIGINAL REASON THAT I WAS CREATED… THE HOPE FOR PEOPLE TO BE FREE FROM THEIR PROBLEMS… AND HE AMPLIFIED IT AGAIN. ADDED TO IT, EVEN. AND FROM THERE, HE SUPPRESSED MY MEMORIES AS THE HOLY GRAIL… AND SET ME FREE IN THE METAVERSE, TO LEARN MORE ON MY OWN.”

  
  


The deal between Philemon and Nyarlathotep was as simple to understand as it was semi-ironclad.

One of them could not interfere in the human world or the cognitive world, without the other one getting an equal way to interfere. One word by one, gave the other another word. Nyarlathotep tended to break their mutual vow of noninterference more - which meant that when Philemon did interfere before things came to a boiling point, they had seen a truly wonderful outcome.

And turning the god of control over to the side of humanity, simply by giving Igor a word of warning? A masterstroke. Even Nyarlathotep had to admit it.

Building up the Conspiracy had been painstaking, and taken far more than one conversation on their part. Hinting to them how to enter the Metaverse had given Philemon nearly a half-dozen conversations they had yet to cash in on.

And seeing it all collapse yet again left the Shadow of Humanity frothing at the mouth.

  
  


“And… you met us, eventually.” Ann finished. “And we all know the rest from there…”

“YEAH. IT’S WEIRD, SEEING YOU GUYS LIKE THIS.”

“So… Joker, what shall our next move be?” Fox’s question caught everyone’s attention. “Our initial plan was to come here, to either steal or remove the Treasure of Mementos… but given the Conspiracy’s presence and Mona’s true form, this may no longer be necessary. Or possible.”

There was a pause in the air, as the rest of the Thieves let Amamiya Ren think. 

“Mona. Does the Conspiracy have any other equipment in Mementos that isn’t in the Depths? Anything that we might have missed on the way down that could cause issues later?”

There was a brief pause. “UH… GIVE ME A MINUTE.”

After several seconds, the Thieves finally heard a noise from above. It sounded like Shadows moving around - and like metal and plastic being mangled irreparably in several different ways, most of them involving muscle or magic. “NOPE. NOT ANYMORE, AT LEAST.”

Two seconds after he finished talking, a piece of metal hit the ground next to one of the giant hands. It burst apart after landing.

“Okay, then that’s settled!” Ryuji grinned. “So… now what, Joker?”

The room was quiet for several seconds.

Then, the voice that was both their friend and their final problem interrupted them.

“COULD I MAKE A SUGGESTION, IN THE MEANTIME?”

  
  


“Why aren’t they picking up?!” The head of Shido’s bodyguards demanded, glaring at his subordinate.

“Si-sir, the last word we got from the agents we have in the subway Palace was more than four hours ago! We’ve been trying to get through to them!” the other bodyguard protested.

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?! The Phantom Thieves… it could only be them! Send in the reinforcements! We’ll deal with them in there.” He scowled.

“Sir... there’s a problem with that. We haven’t been able to get anyone in past the upper level for the last half hour. There’s too many Shadows on the first floor. Everyone in the Depths turned up at the top level without any explanation besides that they got ambushed by the Phantom Thieves! And the trains… they’ve stopped running down there. We can’t get down to the Depths again without slogging the entire way on foot!”

“...Get everything we have left. Get the damn vehicles! We’ll go there ourselves!”

“Sir, the investigation is still ongoing into us. If we disappear now-”

“If we don’t disappear now, we will definitely get arrested. If we do disappear now, and salvage the plan, we might get arrested. Which do you prefer?”

“Got it.”

  
  


“You could make ELEVATORS this whole time?!” 

“I said I was sorry! I wish I’d known too, remember?! I had to walk… run… drive over every floor five times apiece!”

As they returned to the bottommost floor of Mementos, the home of Morgana, the Thieves, scuffed up and bruised, couldn’t help but grin as they left the elevator that their friend had manifested for them.

Well, except the still-annoyed Ryuji. But to be fair, Morgana was annoyed too.

“Anyways… with all those Shadows taken care of… what now, Joker?” Futaba asked. 

Nobody missed the fact that Morgana had scampered off towards the middle of the room again. Whether to give them privacy, or - 

No. He wasn’t returning to his Grail form.

“Seriously… I mean… what can we even do now, man? We can’t kill Mona…” Ryuji muttered.

“What in the world?! Ry-Skull, we don’t have to kill Mona! We could just take him out of Mementos! Everything should be fine if we do that!” Ann stammered.

“But… if we steal the Treasure… it’ll change.” Makoto replied. “And Mona… he…”

Nobody spoke. Nobody wanted to think about what might happen if their fears turned out to be true.

“Guys?”

Then, the subject of their disagreement strode forwards. And the conversation died.

“I can hear you, you know.” Morgana said, sadly. “Is… is it true?”

“Mona… none of us wish to do it.” Akechi replied sadly.

“But… well, we don’t know enough about the Metaverse. Could… we just leave and come back?” Ann suggested.

“The Conspiracy shouldn’t be able to affect the public now, with all of their stuff gone. And if they try anything, Mona could easily kick em out again now that he’s back in charge, right?” Futaba replied.

“Yeah! So… we won!” Ryuji grinned.

“But… they’re still in their cells.”

Everyone fell quiet at Sumire’s words.

“What do you mean, Violet?” Yusuke asked.

“Everyone’s Shadows… they’re still in their cells. They haven’t left, even with all of the Conspiracy’s technology gone. They… they were heading down here even before the Conspiracy started affecting people to ignore what Shido did…” Sumire mused.

“So you think that they might keep blaming us and supporting Shido… even though they aren’t being affected?” Makoto asked.

She wanted to say that her friend was wrong.

But she couldn’t dismiss the possibility out of hand.

“It is said that at least a few weeks are typically needed for someone to form a habit. With the Conspiracy’s manipulations, it is easy to imagine the process taking far less time to come to fruition.” Yusuke stated. “Destroying the prison itself may be our only choice to drive out the inmates.”

“Everyone, stop.”

The Phantom Thieves fell silent as their leader spoke.

“We’re not going to discuss that idea now. First and foremost… Morgana. Is there something you can do about this?”

In a millisecond, Morgana changed.

His eyes burned gold. His mask… altered itself. Where before it had been plain black, now it was flashing lighter and lighter - behind him, so was the suddenly-formed Holy Grail.

As well as the more-and-more mechanical-looking Mercurius.

“I CAN DO ANYTHING.”

Morgana's voice rang deeper than it had earlier. The very walls were reverberating and echoing - if they listened closely, the Phantom Thieves could swear they heard the prisoners themselves echoing his voice.

“THE WORLD… IS NO LONGER AN OBSTACLE FOR US. I COULD RAISE MEMENTOS FROM THE DEPTHS OF HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS, AND OVERTAKE MANKIND RIGHT NOW IF I WISHED IT. FORCE EVERY LIFE ON THIS PLANET TO DANCE TO MY WHIMS. I COULD CREATE A WORLD WHERE THE PHANTOM THIEVES WERE SUPREME… I COULD MAKE YOUR EVERY WISH COME TRUE. MAKE YOU INVINCIBLE. ALL POWERFUL. GRANT EVERY DESIRE YOU EVER DREAMED OF, AND EVERYONE ELSE’S AS WELL.”

And then, the flare of light died down. The voice of “God” went quiet.

And Morgana and Mercurius stood there instead, the same as they normally were.

“But… I don’t think that’s what you guys want. And... that would be showing off. So, what _do_ you want me to do?”

Slowly, Ren smiled.

“I have an idea.”

  
  


Throughout the Depths of Mementos, the horn came.

The horn of the world’s ending. Slowly, one at a time, the inmates came to attention.

And as they did, the voice of the Holy Grail rang throughout Mementos, finally replacing the whispers of the last few weeks - the whispers of the Conspiracy.

The Holy Grail's voice was higher-pitched than before, though.

“ _Prisoners of Mementos. This is your Warden speaking._ ”

Every voice fell silent. Every song that had been sung in the Grail’s praise was quiet, hanging on the Grail’s every word.

“ _Thank you for behaving yourselves while I was away. It was quite a journey for me, really… and now that I have returned to you, I have new ideas.”_

Murmurs broke out, in a few places. 

New?

What did he mean by that? New never meant anything good.

But the mutters (not against him, against what he was saying) were silenced abruptly, when he began to speak again.

“ _Previously, the sole purpose of this place was punishment. To punish the foolish humans who gave rise to it, for failing to solve their own problems, and who refused to free themselves from it when they could. And that desire itself was so strong, it was what created me. And I grew stronger, by using my influence to influence others, to make this place stronger in turn. And recently, the humans who infiltrated this place sought to use that, to strengthen themselves instead, in my absence. But they have been driven out. And I have returned.”_

Cheers arose. But as the voice of their lord spoke again, they fell quiet.

“ _And… I have decided. This place should not be a place of punishment. I understand what it feels like now. To experience rejection, to be cast out… and where the desire to fit in itself comes from. And… I realized that the desire to fit in, to be accepted, is itself… not as easy to ignore as I previously believed. Punishment was not the answer, for any of it. But as long as this place stands… it will always be a prison. Humanity’s own desires… even as you wish to be free to make your own choices, you will always wish in some part of you for someone else to handle the things that you cannot. Nobody can ever take on the world alone. Nobody can fix every problem by themselves without creating new ones.”_

 _“Even me.”_

  
  


At one of the many entrances to Mementos, the agents of the Conspiracy were preparing for their last attempt to hold onto their place in life. Armed soldiers were carrying numerous illegal weapons, all of which would be left behind in the subway Palace before the day was out. The Cognitive Psience researchers were setting up additional brainwashing devices. Just like the ones that had been set up in the lowest floors before the Conspiracy had somehow gotten every last agent they had down there sent up here.

They were going to fix that problem, soon. They hoped.

“How far down are the Depths?”

“This Palace has more than sixty floors before we can get down that far, sir. And it can take around five minutes to search a floor for the way down. And considering we need to have at least one vehicle available on each floor to broadcast the anti-Shadow frequency… plus all of our men carrying the equipment and who are assigned to shoot the Shadows… Three hours. At the minimum.”

“Well, I’m going to hold you to that. We need to get down there as soon as possible! The sooner we set things up, the safer we’ll-”

The speech was cut off from a reverberating noise throughout Mementos.

“-How soon can we set out?” The head bodyguard replied.

“Ten minutes at most.” 

“Shoot for five.”

  
  


_“Rehabilitation is… something that happens every day. Even if you do advance one day, there can be another day that drives you further back. Growing and getting better forever is a nice idea… but it isn’t usually what happens. And rehabilitation is not something that can take place entirely within a cell after you decide to stay in it your entire life. If you really want to prove to the world that you’ve changed, you need to go out and prove it yourself. If you just want to stay inside a cell and have somebody else tell you what to do… that is no longer the purpose of Mementos.”_

_“And as such, I am not going to let it happen again.”_

  
  


In the depths of Mementos, something changed. Nobody but the Phantom Thieves saw it in person. No mortal besides them would ever learn anything had happened at all.

But across Tokyo, and to some degree the world itself, the effects were felt.

The event itself was simple. But it was one that held a great deal of meaning.

The cell doors, as one, opened. 

And slowly, a few of the prisoners started to peek outside.

And slower still, one or two of them started to set foot outside.

And as they did, the light inside Mementos changed.

It was minor, at best. The slight shift of light from red towards blue - or possibly violet. It would have to happen several million more times before any noticeable change was made, to a human eye.

But Morgana, Igor, and Lavenza were not human. 

And they all smiled a little more brightly.

  
  


_“I will accept anyone who wants to come here. But as of today, nobody in Mementos will see the inside of a cell ever again as long as I can do something about it.”_

_“You’re free. Now go. All of you.”_

_“That’s an order.”_

  
  


Before anyone in the Conspiracy could even think about what that message had meant, a figure burst out of the floor in front of them.

And a yell came from below.

“MERCURIUS!”

As a hurricane-force gale blew them through the entrance, and into a crowded subway terminal, the crowd gawking and taking pictures, then screaming and backing away at the sight of the bodyguards with guns, they could only wonder how it had all gone wrong.

  
  


“You sure about this, man?” Ryuji asked, curiously. 

“We can’t stop people from feeling this way. There’s no guarantee somewhere like Mementos won’t rise again in the future. And a lot of the Shadows in the Depths… they had mindsets that made some sense. If they’re what build places like this, then we can’t ever stop another Mementos from rising.” Ren replied. “But…”

“If we can make it so that people’s Shadows leave Mementos, we can prevent the Conspiracy from affecting them that way.” Morgana finished. “I can’t keep people from wanting to come here, but maybe I can keep people from staying here. The Shadows here do what I want them to, after all.”

“Hey, Mona, how do you-”

Before Futaba could ask Morgana a question - probably about how he controlled the Shadows of Mementos - she was cut off by somebody clapping.

“Well done! Well done, indeed!”

The only reason the Phantom Thieves didn’t fall into battle mode was because they recognized that voice.

“Igor.” Ren replied, frowning. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t think the Velvet Room’s master meant any harm… but he had been the one who attacked Morgana.

Even if Morgana himself said he was grateful for it.

“It is good to see that all of you have made your choice. And I will admit that I am relieved by the choice you made.” Lavenza smiled, unknowingly causing Morgana to swoon a little internally.

“Well… it wasn’t like we could hurt Mona.”

“I am aware. I did not think that you would.” Igor replied, giving the cat-god in question a polite nod. “But I am grateful that you choose this route. If nothing else, I would have been disappointed personally at losing such a powerful ally… and a potential new friend.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not planning on going anywhere. Well, except with these guys.” Morgana jumped off the ground as he spoke for a few seconds.

“Good. But remember this advice… you cannot change the world alone. And you should not have to change the world alone, either.” Lavenza said. “The world will only be perfect if everyone works together to do it. You can always try to make things better. Even you, Morgana. You can help change the world without betraying your principles.” Then her face shifted. “But the burden should not be all yours to bear.”

“Indeed… bearing the weight of the world can only break your back, if you hold it too long.” Igor nodded.

In the lowest level of Mementos, the Thieves all looked at the two people who had helped guide them this far, and nodded.

The silence was broken after several seconds.

“So… what should we do now? We won for real this time, right?” Ryuji asked. “I’m… kinda disappointed, if that makes sense? I was expecting another big battle.”

Futaba blinked, then frowned. “Huh… you know, you’re right, Skull. I thought for sure we would get to fight a final boss… I guess Shido was our final boss. So this must be the postgame dungeon.”

“Well, if you’re disappointed, I can always take you up on that! I mean, I won’t try to kill you, but I am sure that I can be a great boss fight.” Morgana grinned

“We wouldn’t expect anything else from you, Mona-chan!” Haru smiled, rubbing his head affectionately.

And as the Phantom Thieves burst into laughter or smiles, all of them felt the brief wave of doubt that had come over them vanish, to be replaced by something else.

_I am thou. Thou art I…_

_Thou hast turned a vow into a blood oath._

_Thy bond shall become the wings of rebellion_

_and break the yoke of thy heart._

_Thou hast awakened to the ultimate secret_

_of the Fool, the World, granting thee infinite power..._

As the Thieves joked and jostled each other, Ren couldn’t help but smile as he felt something… shift… in his heart. Like something had shifted. Something previously strong already had turned into something ironclad. Something that wouldn’t shift if the world itself turned on them.

And he couldn’t ask for anything more.

And he was fairly certain that neither could Morgana.

**Author's Note:**

> This isn’t perfect, and maybe could have done more to address Morgana struggling with the desires of Yaldabaoth’s old self conflicting with his desires as who he is now. But I suppose part of this story - and his story in Persona 5 as a whole - was that he had managed to work through those desires. He’s happy where he is in life.  
> My writing method/style isn't perfect, and my handle of drama isn't that good, but I like the story I made here, mostly. I think a few sections near the beginning and the end don’t quite match the tone of the rest of the story. And my original plan actually featured Morgana raising Mementos like he did normally, except this time it’s because he got “distorted” again, and swore he would do anything he thought was necessary to keep the rest of the Thieves safe. The Thieves would talk him down more than fight him… but in the end, that was not how this went. I am still happy overall, and if anyone else wants to write that story, feel free.  
> Though I admit that I'm surprised I was possibly the first person on AO3 to come up with a Yaldabaoth = Morgana story. Maybe other people had the idea and just never wrote the whole thing, or tried to do it in a full novelization.  
> Tell me what you think.


End file.
